Health workers testing people for coronavirus in Mumbai. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India Highlights: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 30,535 fresh cases of COVID-19. This is the highest number of daily cases Maharashtra has reported since March 2020, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 24,79,682. As per the health department, 99 deaths have also been reported in Maharashtra today, taking the death tally of COVID-19 related deaths in the state to 53,399.
With the recent spike of coronavirus cases in Rajasthan, the state government has decided to impose night curfew in eight cities from tomorrow. From March 25, the state government has also made negative COVID-19 reports mandatory for people who are entering the state. Rajasthan government officials said that the night curfew will be imposed in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Sagwada (Dungarpur) and Kushalgarh (Banswara) from 11 pm to 5 am, starting from Monday.
Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar Sunday said the second wave of coronavirus had begun, seeking people’s cooperation to contain the spread of the virus. “We are at the beginning of the second wave of coronavirus. Let us all join hands to control it because the next three months are crucial for us,” Sudhakar said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla tested positive for Covid-19 on March 19, a press release announced on Sunday. Birla has been admitted to AIIMS Covid Centre in the national capital, where he is getting treated since March 20. Birla’s condition is stable and his parameters are normal, the press release by AIIMS informed.
India recorded 43,846 new cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, taking the country’s total tally to over 1.15 crore cases. This is the highest single day spike since November 25. Out of this, over 3.09 lakh cases are active while 1.11 crore people have recovered. Maharashtra reported 27,126 new cases, while Punjab had 2,578 on Sunday.
The Serum Institute of India in Pune. (Express photo: Ashish Kale)
The Rajasthan government has decided to impose a night curfew — 11pm to 5am — in eight cities across the state in view of the rise in Covid-19 cases. Also, according to an official release of the government, those entering Jaipur will need to furnish a RT-PCR-negative Covid-19 test report not older than three days from March 25.
The eight cities where night curfew will be imposed are: Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Sagwara and Kushalgarh. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence on Sunday. It was also decided that markets in all urban areas will be closed by 10pm from Monday. Read More
A 65-year-old man died within hours of being administered the Covishield vaccine Friday in Kesharpur panchayat area of Jharkhand’s Simdega district, according to the district administration.
The man, identified as Jethu Kotwar, fell unconscious after taking the vaccine and died enroute to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, where he was referred for further treatment. Read More
With the daily positivity rate of Covid-19 cases on the rise in the capital over the past week, experts have raised red flags of a resurgence of the next wave.
On Sunday, the city saw over 800 cases for the second day in a row — 823 new cases from 79,714 tests, a positivity rate of 1.03%. With one more person succumbing to the virus, the death toll stands at 10,956. Read More
Three persons, including a woman, tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur on Sunday, taking the tally to 29,335, an official said.
The new cases were reported from Imphal East, Imphal West and Kangpokpi districts.
Two coronavirus patients were also discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recovered people to 28,933, the official said.
The state's recovery rate currently stands at 98.62 per cent, and the number of active cases is 29.
The death toll remained unchanged at 373 as no COVID-19 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.
Meanwhile, 81,251 people, including 31,140 healthcare workers, have been vaccinated in the state so far, the official added. (PTI)
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) declared 260 houses, with a population of 780, at a residential society in South Bopal area a micro-containment zone Sunday.
Entire A to E blocks of Gala Aria in South Bopal, which comes under Jodhpur ward, were declared containment zone, the highest among the list of 18 new areas added by AMC Sunday. Read More
The total number of Covid cases in Mumbai is 3.62 lakh now, of which, 23,448 are active. In the past 24 hours, the number of active cases has risen by 2,113. In the first 21 days of March, the daily caseload in the city has increased by 2.41 times.
However, as opposed to over 40 deaths a day in October last year, the daily death rate due to the virus has dropped to single digits since February this year. On Sunday, 10 deaths were recorded, of which, nine patients aged above 60 years. The recovery rate has also improved to 91 per cent on Sunday as opposed to 86 per cent in October. Read More
The daily count of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra touched yet another high on Sunday, with the discovery of over 30,000 infections. Till just five days ago, total number of cases from the entire country was fewer than this number.
For the third consecutive day, Pune reported more than 5,000 cases, which continue to be the highest for any city in the country. Sunday’s tally of 5,421 was slightly lower than 5,591 recorded on Saturday. Pune is now quite close to its all-time peak of 5,939 cases, achieved on September 10 last year. Read More
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh, the Bhupesh Baghel government on Sunday said students of all classes will be promoted without examinations, expect those from Class X and XII.
An order to this effect, which will be applicable to state-run, Central as well as private schools, was issued late evening by the state education department, said a public relations department official.
"All schools will be shut till further orders and all students, except of class 10th and 12th, will be given general promotion to the next class without holding examinations," the order said.
"The board exams of class 10th and 12th will be held offline as per the schedule declared earlier by Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education (CGBSE) while complying with all coronavirus preventive guidelines issued by the Centre and state government from time to time," the order added.
Schools, colleges and universities, which were shut since the coronavirus-induced lockdown imposed in the country last year, were reopened from February 15, though only students of Classes IX to XII had to attend.
In the previous academic session too, the state government had promoted students of all classes, except of class 10th and 12th, after the coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed in March last year.
Meanwhile, the state's Skill Development, Technical Education and Employment department has ordered to shut all government and private engineering colleges, polytechnic colleges, Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and skill development training and educational activities. (PTI)
More than 6 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been sent to 76 nations, while 4.5 crore doses have been administered to beneficiaries in the country till now, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday. He also called for making the vaccination drive a 'Jan Aandolan' (mass movement).
"Until this morning, nearly 4.5 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given to the people in this country. More than six crore doses have been sent to 76 nations," Vardhan said during a media interaction at the Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH) here. (PTI)
A Gujarat BJP MLA on Sunday said workers of his party do not get infected with novel coronavirus since they work hard.
Rajkot (South) legislator Govind Patel's take on coronavirus came after reporters asked him if the flouting of guidelines by political leaders and workers during poll campaigning was resulting in a spike in cases.
"Those who work hard do not get coronavirus infection. BJP workers work hard, and therefore, not a single worker has been infected with the virus," Patel claimed. Read More
The COVID-19 tally of Pune district rose by 5,408 in the last 24 hours to reach 4,69,478, while the day also saw 32 deaths and 1,245 people getting discharged, an official said on Sunday.
The toll in the district is 9,569, he added. Of the new cases, Pune city accounted for 2,900 and Pimpri Chinchwad 1,416, and the rest were in the rural and cantonment areas, he said. (PTI)
Gujarat's COVID-19 tally increased by 1,580 on Sunday to reach 2,87,009, while the toll rose by seven and the recovery count by 989, an official said. The state's death toll stands at 4,450 and the number of people discharged is 2,75,238, or 95.90 per cent of the caseload, leaving it with 7,321 active cases, including 71 on ventilator support, he added.
"Surat accounted for 510 of the new cases, followed by 451 in Ahmedabad, 132 in Vadodara and 130 in Rajkot. Of the seven deaths recorded on Sunday, three took place in Ahmedabad, two in Surat and one each in Gandhinagar and Vadodara," the official informed. (PTI)
Maharashtra today reported 30,535 fresh cases of COVID-19. This is the highest number of daily cases Maharashtra has ever reported since March 2020, taking the total number of coronavirus cases to 24,79,682. As per the health department 99 deaths have also been reported in Maharashtra today, taking the death tally of COVID-19 related deaths in the state upto 53,399.
Continuing its rising streak, coronavirus cases in Karnataka crossed the 1,700 mark for the second straight day on Sunday as the infection count climbed to 9,70,202 and the toll edged up to 12,434 with two more deaths, the health department said.
Reflecting the trend, the active cases too shot up to 13,493 as against below 6,000 at the beginning of this month, a bulletin said, adding 137 people were undergoing treatment in the intensive care units of various hospitals. (PTI)
The number of COVID-19 cases in Nagpur rose by 3,614 to touch 1,93,080 on Sunday, while the day also saw 32 deaths and 1,859 people recovering, an official said.
The toll in the district is 4,624, and the recovery count is 1,59,108, leaving it with 29,348 active cases, he added. (PTI)
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday chaired a meeting of his cabinet ministers and senior officials to ensure guidelines are enforced to check the spread of the virus in view of the upcoming Holi festival and wedding season.
Chhattisgarh on Saturday recorded 1,273 cases, the highest single-day spike in this year. The CM also directed that the number of daily COVID-19 tests be increased as well as the vaccination drive be expedited, a state public relations department official said. (PTI)
Punjab reports 2,669 new COVID-19 cases, 1,331 recoveries and 44 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Mumbai on Sunday recorded 3755 Covid-19 cases, highest single-day rise in its total cases, since the pandemic hit the state last year.The last highest count was recorded on Friday, March 19, when 3063 cases were recorded in a day.
Kerala recorded 1,875 coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the total infections to 11.04 lakh, the state government said. As many as 2,251 people have been cured of the infection and total recoveries have gone up to 10,74,805.
The total infection caseload mounted to 11,04,577, health minister, K K Shailaja said. In the last 24 hours ending 2 pm, 44,675 samples have been tested and the test positivity rate was 4.2 per cent. Kozhikode accounted for 241 cases, Kannur 182, Thrissur 173 , Kollam 158 and Thiruvananthapuram 155. (PTI)
Bengaluru reports 1039 new cases, over 60% of the same across Karnataka (1715). 15 active containment zones now in capital city, as per BBMP data.